The invention relates to producing shale oil and related mineral materials from subterranean deposits of oil shale.
Numerous subterranean oil shales are mixed with water-soluble minerals. Such deposits comprise substantially impermeable, kerogen-containing, earth formations from which shale oil can be produced by a hot fluid-induced pyrolysis or thermal conversion of the organic solids to fluids. A series of patents typified by the T. N. Beard, A. M. Papadopoulos and R. C. Ueber U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,739,851; 3,741,306; 3,753,594; 3,759328; and 3,759,574 describe procedures for utilizing the water-soluble minerals to form rubble-containing caverns in which the oil shale is exposed to a circulating hot aqueous fluid that converts the kerogen to shale oil while removing enough solid material to expand the cavern and expose additional oil shale.